


Stronger Together

by Loeka



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby!Superman, Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-11-16 02:48:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11244759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loeka/pseuds/Loeka
Summary: If they were home, Kal-El would not be allowed to do this.They are not home.(Or, what if both pods had been knocked off course into the Phantom Zone?)





	1. Chapter 1

She does not remember much of their arrival.

She remembers waking in a too small pod and a blind desperation to get out, remembers clawing and punching at the barrier until her hands bleed. She cannot remember the barrier powering down but it must have because the next thing she remembers is that she _burns_.

She burns as she is blinded by too many shades of color, burns as she is deafened by too many frequencies. She drowns in scent and taste, sight and sound, overwhelmed by sensation, lost in the chaos all around.

She burns.

Kal-El cries.

She burns and knows that she has to protect him.

She does not remember moving, but she does remember lifting Kal-El from his pod. Remembers the fear of hurting him, overwhelmed by a need to hold him close but being so terrified that she will hold him too tightly.

She does not know how she manages to succeed, but she somehow does. She holds him close and does not hurt him.

She knows she succeeds because he remains alive.

Things after that are a fiery haze broken by fleeting moments of clarity.

She remembers encountering humans and being given food for Kal-El. Remembers being shown how to feed him.

She remembers the setting of Rao. Remembers the touch of dawn.

She remembers other humans arriving. Remembers them trying to take Kal-El away from her.

She remembers running.

Looking back, she realizes that things could have gone a _lot_ worse, but at the time it feels like everything that can go wrong, does.

They are alone on a strange planet. There is no one to help them. No one who speaks their language.

They have no home, no family, no support. They have no one besides each other.

Except Kal-El is a baby. He is not even a full aeon old. He cannot help her, he needs her help instead. He needs her to protect him.

Like she promised her parents she would.

So that is what she focuses on. She protects him, cleans him, finds him food, soothes his cries, keeps him warm and safe. Nothing matters beyond protecting Kal-El.

It is the only thing that keeps her from giving up.

At first, caring for Kal-El passes in a haze as well. Mostly because she is constantly fighting to control the powers bestowed by Yellow Rao, struggling through the endless sensory overload, the raging chaos that never lessens.

She forces herself to not pay attention to any of it, makes it all become meaningless background noise and only interprets what her senses are saying about one thing in particular.

Most of the time that one thing is Kal-El.

But there are other things she needs to pay attention too as well. Every day she needs to find food, water, shelter and other necessities. She cannot do that if all her attention is on Kal-El.

It does not take long before she learns how to quickly shift her attention from one thing to another.

Her battle with her strength takes longer. She struggles through breaking everything she touches the moment she stops paying attention to how much force she is using, has to learn how to move in a world where everything is so frail and delicate. She does not know how she manages it, but she never hurts Kal-El. When she holds him, she is hyper aware of the effect each and every one of her motions has on him, knows that just one wrong move could so easily kill him.

He is so _fragile_.

As time passes, the struggle with her powers becomes a little easier, though not by much. Eventually she is able to force herself to be aware of more than one thing at a time, to interpret everything her senses are raging at her about what is going on in their immediate surroundings. She can not do it for long but she does not need to. She just needs to do it long enough to gather supplies and flee when the humans chase them.

The humans who chase them come in a variety of clothing, many wearing weapons.

The most dangerous ones always wear the same things. A dark mixture of blue and a touch of red, with far more weapons than average. She soon learns to run the instant she spots one.

She does not always succeed. Sometimes they find her first. At first does not present a problem. Even after being found, she can easily escape them with the powers bestowed by Yellow Rao.

Then they start using weapons.

Everything becomes more terrifying after that. When she encounters them now, she has to be so careful to shield Kal-El from their weapons, catching the metal pins with her own body the few times she cannot dodge them in time. The electrical charges they fire hurt and slow her down a little, but they do not truly harm her.

If Kal-El gets hit with the same charge, he will die.

So she works to improve her hiding. She observes the clothes the humans wear and how it changes the way they react towards one another, and starts wearing clothes that makes the humans coo at her and Kal-El. When they do, she discovers that if she does not say anything and smiles while giving vague hand gestures, humans often give some form of food to either her or Kal-El. She also realizes that human senses are so limited that just by changing her clothes and the way her hair is styled, she can pass for entirely different person. If she dyes her and Kal-El’s hair, the effect is even greater.

She learns that the green papers most carry around are this planet’s form of currency, and discovers that it is a lot easier to steal currency from the humans on the streets and buy things in stores than stealing those things themselves.

The dangerous humans start taking longer to find them.

She falls into a routine, every day the same as the last, hollow and empty. Every day more painful than the last.

Every day it becomes more difficult to keep going. To keep herself from falling in the abyss that haunts her every step.

Then everything changes.

“Awa!”

At first she does not realize what is happening. Kal-El often makes meaningless sounds, there is nothing unusual about it. Given that he does not require a change, she assumes that he wants some food or attention.

They are in the shelter she’s chosen for tonight, and he is laying down a pile of blankets next to her. She bends forward and enters his line of sight.

It turns out that he wants attention. As soon as he sees her, he smiles wide enough to show the few teeth he has, before he lifts his arms while clenching and unclenching his hands in what is his signal for her to pick him up.

“Awa!”

She reaches for him, slowly and delicately, holding him as gently as she can. Her mission. Her promise. The only reason she has to keep going.

Kal-El giggles and clumsily reaches for her hair, before yanking enthusiastically when he manages to close a fist over some strands. He likes playing with her hair. It’s one of the easiest ways to make him stop crying.

If they were home, he would not be allowed to do this.

They are not home.

Blinking back sudden tears, she tries to distract herself from the pain that only seems to grow the longer they are here by focusing on Kal-El.

“You are only allowed to do this because we are within Yellow Rao’s domain,” she tells him before biting down her bottom lip hard enough to hurt, wishing she could take the words back. The reminder that they are in a strange place makes the ever present pain flare up even more sharply.

She distracts herself by tilting her head so Kal-El can play with more of her hair.

Kal-El giggles and eagerly yanks at the offered strands with his other hand, failing to pull any of them out because of Yellow Rao’s gift.

“Awa! Awa!”

“Yes, awa, awa,” she parrots back. When Kal-El giggles again, the abyss threatening to swallow her recedes just the tiniest bit.

She knows the relief will not last long.

“Awa! Awa! Awa!”

She gladly takes hold of this new distraction. While sh iss used to Kal-El making meaningless sounds, she is not used to him repeating the same one again and again. Why is he doing that?

Kal-El, still smiling brightly, looks into her eyes and tugs insistently at her hair.

“Awa!”

Her breath hitches.

Awa. Kara.

He is saying her _name_.

Suddenly everything changes. He is not just her mission, not just a promise. He is Kal-El. Her little cousin. Her family.

And he knows her _name_.

Kara of the House of El, Daughter of Zor of the House of El and Allura of the House of Is. The name she whispers to herself every night over and over. The name she clings to because it is the only thing she has left.

Except it is not the only thing she has left. She has her cousin, Kal of the House of El, Son of Jor of the House of El and Lara of the House of Za.

Kal-El, who knows her name.

After that, nothing is the same. She does not merely make sure that he is healthy and safe, now she is going out of her way to make him happy.

They pass by a store with brightly colored things inside, and instead of continuing on when she sees him look at the things with wonder, Kara-El goes inside and buys him a shiny bauble that makes him giggle with delight. She no longer waits until he starts crying to try to figure out what’s wrong, but does her best to anticipate his every need. When he does cry, Kara-El is no longer content with merely making him stop, she does whatever she must in order to make him laugh again.

She tells him stories. Tells him the legend of the great hero Luxi-Ar, the Lost Child who grew up beneath Yellow Rao’s Light on a planet far from home. Just like Kal-El.

Luxi-Ar found happiness. Kal-El will too.

Kara-El will make sure of it.

She tells him other stories as well. Tells him the tales of the Gods, the Battle of Zekkora, the deceit and trickery of the Daxamites.

She tells him the same stories her parents told her.

And suddenly stories are not enough. Suddenly she is telling Kal-El everything she can about their home.

The high spires surrounded by a sea of clouds, every building made to honor Rao, catching their Light in the most beautiful of ways. How everything was colored in softly blending shades of color, so much more beautiful than the glaring contrasts the humans are so fond of.

The view of Agrolia. The spectacle of Rao’s Light fracturing on the illiya crystals dotting the surface, the play of colors different each and every day. The eternal storms beneath the clouds, so violent that she has only ever seen them from inside a carrier, too young to go out in them in an exosuit. The beds synthesized to feel like clouds, the comfort she felt when sleeping in her own. Her favorite robe, the one made of exactly one thousand shades of yellow. The field of tariflowers in the park she loved to play in. The taste of ikolate, her favorite dish.

She talks about it all, describes even the tiniest of details.

She talks about her parents. How her mamae always smelled of something that reminded her of lightning and how her babae’s hands were always so impossibly soft. The songs her mamae used to sing, the way her babae couldn’t cook manually to save his life but loved to try anyway.

She talks about his own parents. The way his mamae always brought along her favorite candy whenever she visited, the pretty robes she always wore. How his babae always smelled a little like a lab, just like her own did. How his babae never knew what to do when she hugged him beyond giving her head an awkward pat, and the gentle teasing it always inspired from his bondmate.

She often cries when she tells Kal-El these things, often feels like she is drowning in the abyss that still haunts her every step.

At the same time, it makes her feel lighter than she has since they got here.

She is not alright. She does not think she will be ever again. But she is doing better.

That is more than Kara-El ever dared to hope for.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara-El wakes up one morning with the realization that she has nor honored Rao since they arrived here.

Her parents would be so disappointed in her.

Heart clenching painfully, she resolves to do better, starting right now.

She gently lifts Kal-El from his makeshift bed next to her and stands up. Kal-El blinks up at her drowsily, already halfway through falling asleep again after being woken by the touch of dawn.

“No, Kal-El, you need to stay awake,” she tells him, making his eyes become a little clearer. He lifts a small hand and stuffs it into his mouth, drool starting to drip down.

“Do not worry, you do not have to stay awake for long,” she assures him while moving towards the window facing Rao’s dawning.

That is when she realizes that they will not be able to honor Rao in here. Not even a flicker of their light can reach them, the entire view blocked by building after building.

Kara-El hesitates. She could go outside and climb one of the taller buildings so they can honor Rao properly. Except if she does that, Rao will already be halfway through clearing the horizon, and she might not have enough time left to honor them. Dawning happens very quickly on this planet.

She decides it is better to greet Rao here. Circumstances do sometimes prevent people from reaching an appropriate place to honor Rao, but as long as it does not become a habit, it is alright to honor Rao without experiencing their dawn directly.

She resolves to only find shelter where they can properly honor Rao from now on.

Carefully taking hold of Kal-El’s chin, she gently makes him bow his head. He is too young to do this on his own, so she has to do it for him.

Kal-El lets out a few sleepy sounds but does not try to escape her grip. Good.

Kara-El bows her head as well. She takes a fortifying breath and lets it out slowly, doing her best to ignore the sharp grief of having to do this without her parents.

“Great Rao, who Freely Shares their Light with All. We offer our Gratitude for your Generosity, for the Gift bestowed upon your Children. We offer Awe for your Power, for the Brilliant Dance that Never Ends.”

She continues to honor Rao, slowly lifting both her own head and Kal-El’s in time with their dawning and carefully articulating each word. The High Speech feels clumsy on her tongue after not using it for so long.

When she finishes the shared part of honoring Rao, Kara-El hesitates. Not only because she unused to being the first to continue, but because she is supposed to say what she is grateful for to this Rao in particular. Except...

Except there is nothing to be grateful for. She tries, racking her brain to find something she feels true gratitude for, no matter how small. She just can’t come up with anything.

Their home is gone and their family is dead. What is there to be grateful for?

“Awa,” Kal-El calls in a tone that means he is becoming bored and wants to play.

Kara-El knows what she is grateful for.

“Thank you, Yellow Rao, for gifting me the strength needed to keep my cousin safe.” Her words come out as a whisper, her throat too tight and her eyes stinging with sudden tears as they do so often.

Kal-El lets out a sound of annoyance and tugs at her hand, trying to get her to release his chin. “Awa! Ay!” he demands, becoming impatient after having his first plea ignored. Kara-El feels a fleeting smile grow, his antics soothing away her tears.

She will explain things to him after Rao has finished dawning. It is disrespectful to talk before then.

Except Kal-El is a baby and does not yet know that. He lets out more sounds of annoyance and tries harder to make her let go of his chin. Kara-El resist the urge to explain things to him and keeps lifting both their heads in time with Rao’s dawning. She needs to keep quiet just a little while longer.

When she smells Kal-El’s rising distress and hears him hiccup, she has to bite down her lip to prevent herself from speaking. Rao has almost cleared the horizon, just a few more ticks and…

Dawn has passed.

With a sigh of relief, she lets go of Kal-El’s chin and carefully tickles his tummy. It startles him into letting out a giggle, the distress gone as quickly as it appeared.

“You are very impatient, little cousin,” she teases.

“Awa! Ay!” Kal-El repeats his previous demand while reaching for her hair. With a chuckle, she tilts her head so he can play with the strands. He does so with a happy coo.

“I never liked waiting for Rao’s dawning to finish either,” Kara-El confesses, ashamed when she thinks back to her behavior. Back home, she did not truly understand why they had to keep silent until Rao finished clearing the horizon.

She does now.

Kara-El will make her parents proud. She will greet Rao properly every morning, and she will make sure that Kal-El does too. She’ll teach him the importance of this. Her little cousin will learn.

As it turns out, Kal-El learns much faster than she anticipates. After only one cycle, he stops making a fuss when they honor Rao and remains respectfully silent until Rao finishes clearing the horizon. Half a cycle later, he starts lifting his head in time with Rao’s dawning all on his own.

Her little cousin is so smart. This is proven even further by the rate at which he learns new words.

At first she does not catch the astonishing speed at which he is progressing. Kal-El’s ability to articulate is still developing, and so many of the words he says sound nothing like they’re supposed to.

She notices the most obvious ones. “Ay”, for play, “foo” for food, “ye” for yes, “mo” for no, simple things like that.

It is only when when he starts calling the slightly squishy ring she got for him to chew on _effy-lue_ instead of  lue that she figures out he already knows a lot more words than she thought he did. _Lue_  is his word for blue, but she is confused when he starts adding _effy_ to it when he asks for his ring. Even stranger, he starts adding effy to his word for play as well, but only when he wants to play with her hair.

When understanding hits, it is enough to make her want to burst with pride.

Effy-lue. Pretty blue. Effy-ay. Pretty play.

She never called either her hair or that particular shade of blue pretty. Kal-El added the adjective all on his own.

Her little cousin is _amazing_.

She still does not grasp the full scale of just how amazing he is. That only happens after an encounter with a human in one of the nature areas.

Kara-El is seated on the ground, Kal-El held within her lap.

“What is this?” she asks while holding up a few pieces of grass. Well, not grass exactly, but it is the closest thing she can think to compare it to.

“Gas!” Kal-El answers, getting it right yet again.

“Very good, Kal-El. This is grass,” she praises and gently tickles his tummy as a reward, making him laugh with delight.

“What color is this?” she asks next.

“Lue-ello!” Kal-El answers correctly yet again.

“Correct, little cousin. The grass is blue-yellow.” Kara-El rewards him with another tummy tickle, the sound of his laughter music to her ears.

She plucks a flower and holds it in front of him. “What is this?”

“Eysi!”

Her brow furrows. That bore no resemblance whatsoever to the word of flower. Even stranger, she knows that he knows the correct answer. He gave it when she showed him another flower.

“No, Kal-El,” she says, and is surprised when it makes him look up at her with confusion. “This is a flower. Floower,” she articulates clearly so he will understand.

“Eysi!” Kal-El repeats while reaching for the flower, undaunted by her correction.

“Flower,” she counters once more while letting him play with the flower.

“Eysi!” Kal-El stubbornly insists instead of correcting himself as he usually does.

Before she can try to correct him again, Kara-El registers that a human is coming uncomfortably close and it immediately draws her full attention.

One of the reasons Kara-El likes to be in public garden spaces located in the outskirts during the day is because the humans aren not constantly crowding together here. Another reason is that relatively few humans here wear a weapon. It means her attention not constantly switching between them and Kal-El. While she has gotten better at interpreting the chaos her senses are always screaming at her and she now subconsciously realizes when a human, with or without weapon, is getting too close. When they come too near, they always draw her conscious attention.

Like now.

The human, who carries no weapon and who has mutilated her ears like so many do, continues to come closer with a smile. She does not smell of aggression or fear.

Kara-El remains on guard, but she does not think this human will turn out to be a threat.

The human opens her mouth and lets out a string of noise that means absolutely nothing to her, before falling silent with an expectant expression.

Kara-El smiles and nods. That is the best response to make to a human.

The human chuckles, before she lets out another string of noise and once more falls silent with an expectant expression. Kara-El nods again, still smiling.

The human’s smile turns into a grin, before she starts crouching down.

Kara-El’s perception of time speeds up a little because of the increase in danger. She quickly but not too quickly changes her hold on Kal-El, before grabbing the strap of her pack of supplies with her other hand, ready to flee in an instant.

The human slowly raises a brow at her but she does not become aggressive. She plucks the same kind of flower Kara-El did and holds it out towards Kal-El, every movement dragging on just a little too long. Her increased perception of time is a big part of why Kara-El doesn’t like it when humans are too close.

“Eysi!” Kal-El exclaims again while reaching for the flower, letting the other he was holding fall to the ground. Kara-El watches for any sign of danger from the human when Kal-El closes a small hand around the flower, but the human simply lets go of the flower so that Kal-El can play with it. She lets out another string of noise, the sounds distorted by the way time seems slowed.

It is when the human starts repeating a noise with exaggerated articulation while pointing at the flower Kal-El is holding that Kara-El realizes what is happening.

“D’ey-si.” That is the word the human repeats. It must be their word for flower. And Kal-El knows it.

Eysi. D’ey-si.

Kara-El did not teach him that.

For some reason, the knowledge leaves her dazed and overwhelmed by a desire to get away from the human. Kara-El picks up Kal-El and their pack, and leaves, ignoring the human when she starts talking again. Fortunately, the human does not come after them, and she soon fades into the rest of the background static Kara-El is always assaulted by.

Kal-El is learning the human’s language all on his own. Which is normal. Kara-El looked up as much information as she could when she first learned that she was going to have a cousin, so she knows that babies start learning the language spoken around them even without being taught how to do so. Even when the language is alien.

Kal-El learning the human’s language should not come as a surprise.

It is surprising. She does not know how to handle this. What to think of this.

It is only the next day, after they have finished honoring Rao, that she realizes what she must do.

She must learn the human language herself. Must be capable of understanding Kal-El no matter what he says.

This will not be easy.


	3. Chapter 3

She is correct, it is not easy. At all.

Kara-El first tries to learn the language by listening in on conversations, but while that does teach her a few words, it is not enough to master the language by far.

Reluctantly, she starts approaching humans for help.

She has the most luck when she approaches them in either a nature area or one of the relaxation spots that sell food and drinks. If she just approaches them on the streets, the humans usually ignore her, continuing to rush to wherever it is they are going. Even in a nature area or relaxation spot, the humans sometimes still ignore her or try to shoo her and Kal-El away.

Kara-El has the most luck when she approaches adults who are accompanying children. The younger the children, the better. She is pretty sure It is because of Kal-El. The humans who have children always focus on him first before they welcome her.

At first she has trouble asking for help, courtesy of not knowing the language. She has to get her message across through a liberal use of hand gestures and by having Kal-El name objects. That last is what works best. It makes the humans point out objects and say the word for them in their language.

Then Kara-El figures out the magic words.

“Ai d’on-t speek ing-lish. Ai wan-to l’earn.”

She thinks _Ing-lish_ is the name of the humans’ language. The rest she is unure of, though the essence of it probably means that she wants to learn their language.

Learning the terms for objects is easy, but the rest? Verbs, pronouns, adjectives, the rules of grammar? These are _difficult_. Ing-lish does not seem to follow a clear logic.

For example, she discovers that runnng is  _r'un_. Except it can also be _r’uns, r’an_ or _r’un-ing_. At first she thinks that the changes depend on who the verb is referring to, but it turns out that is not the case. At least, not beyond whether the verb is referring to a single human or plural ones. Instead, the verb changes based on what tense it refers to. Even worse, while the present tense does have a suffix, namely - _ing_ , it seems to be the only tense that does. All the other tenses are indicated by changing the verb itself, and the rules for that change seem to be different for every verb.

Kara-El has no idea why anyone would ever make a language this confusing. That is without getting into the way Ing-lish seems to be limited in the oddest of ways.

The pronouns are always the same. Every human refers to themselves as _ai_ , with nothing to indicate rank, standing, or any other kind of identification. And when referring to other individual humans, they only have two different options. What do those two options refer to?

Gender. Not rank, not station, not standing. _Gender_.

Kara-El will never understand humans.

Still, she forces herself to learn. While she does not pick up words with quite the same speed as Kal-El does, she does pick up the rules of grammar more quickly than he does. After a while, she can pick up the general basic of what is being said and she usually capable of getting her own message across.

Most important of all, she is able to understand everything Kal-El says. There are still times when she has to go to the humans for clarification when he starts using a new word, but on the whole, she always knows what he is saying. Mission accomplished.

Things continue like that for a while. Kal-El continues to grow, both physically and mentally. Kara-El continues to care for him.

Then everything changes.

Rao has set, but Kara-El has not gone to their current hide-out yet. This planet’s rotation means that the days are not the same as back home. Currently, Rao sets early.

She and Kal-El are in a general food schop. Kal-El is held with one arm, contently playing with one of his favorite toys. A cube divided into different colors, which can be rotated to form different patterns.

Kara-El is gathering food with her free hand and putting it in the basket hanging from her arm. Aside from them, there are only two other humans present. One is the shopkeeper, the other is a human with several weapons. There is also another weapon behind the counter, though the shopkeeper does not carry it on his person. Kara-El wishes she could avoid humans with weapons, but too many possess them for her to do that.

She has just grabbed some of Kal-El’s favorite snacks when the human carrying several weapons starts coming too close. Kara-El watches him warily. He does not smell aggressive, nor does he smell of desire. Not many humans do, at least, not aimed at her. But when Rao has set, humans who smell of desire sometimes approach her. Sometimes they try to force her to come with them.

They always fail.

The human halts, too close for comfort but still a healthy distance away. He smiles. He smells of compassion.

“ _Hello_.”

Kara-El turns her head away in a sign of dismissal, though she is careful to keep him within her vision. Yellow Rao’s gifts allow her to see clearly even from the furthest edge of her vision.

After making sure her body shields Kal-El completely, she continues gathering food, moving away from the human.

The human follows.

“ _Stop following us_ ,” she carefully articulates in his language while giving the human a glare. Humans do not find her intimidating, not unless she is forced to defend herself and Kal-El. They do, however, react in a satisfactory manner when she behaves in what they consider to be a rude manner. They leave her and Kal-El alone. Usually, at least.

This human does not leave them alone.

“ _My name is Hank-Henshaw. What’s yours?_ ” he asks in a slightly distorted voice, courtesy of her perception of time having sped up a little.

Kara-El’s glare grows fiercer, before she deliberately turns her gaze away from his and continues gather food. It could not be more clear that she wants him to leave.

“Kawa?” Kal-El asks, previous contentment replaced by rising distress. He is growing more and more sensitive to her emotions, and he dislikes it when she is annoyed.

“It is all right, Kal-El. I am simply telling the human to go away,” she explains, rubbing soothing circles on his leg, the only part of him she can reach while holding him like this.

The human’s compassion is joined by amusement. This is not an unusual reaction. Humans are often amused when she talks to Kal-El.

“ _His name is Kal-El?_ ”

Kara-El’s full gaze snaps back to the human, true wariness rising. None have ever managed to decipher Kal-El’s name when she speaks to him in their own language. Not without her saying several things to him.

The human slowly raises his hands in what she has learned is a sign of surrender. It takes his hands further away from his weapons, which is good.

It does not erase her wariness.

“ _I don’t want to hurt you or him_ ,” the human says even slower than her changed perception should cause. Even with the distortion, she can tell that his voice has taken on a soothing tone and he is carefully articulating every word. Making sure she understands him.

It only makes her wariness grow.

“ _I just want to talk_.”

Kal-El starts crying, her anxiety too much to bear for him. Kara-El comes to a decision.

They need to leave.

Dropping the basket of food, she quickly but not too quickly runs past the human, ducking beneath the hand reaching for her, her every sense focused on him. He calls after her, telling her to stop, but she ignores that.

She is already out of the store when she realizes that there are more humans present, a background noise she had not paid attention to, too focused on the human still in the store.

This was a mistake. The humans outside are the _dangerous_ humans, the humans with electric weapons that can kill Kal-El. Several are holding nets with power cells attached.

Kara-El panics. She needs to protect Kal-El, needs to get him out of here, needs to run – a dangerous human fires his weapon and time slows to a crawl. Kara-El dodges the pins and runs as fast she can, making time slow down even more as she weaves through the humans but now the other humans are firing as well and there are too many, she cannot dodge them all, needs to shield Kal-El because he cannot survive a shock of this power!

Kara-El twists around so the pins hit her back, time speeding up a little as she stops moving but everything aside from her is still moving so slowly except it not because Kal-El is crying and pain is racing through her body and the humans that started this all by luring her full attention is yelling something and one of the humans is too near and he is _reaching for Kal-El!_

Kara-El does not think, does not process that she can easily move out of range before the human can even graze Kal-El with his hand. She punches the human with everything she has, feels metal fracture under hand and hears bone shatter and she is already running before the human impacts with the building behind him, pushes another human out of the way with enough force to throw him off his feet and the other humans are trying to aim their weapons at Kal-El again but she’s too fast, slips through the narrow openings not covered by the nets and she cannot fly, cannot spare the focus but she does not need to, is out of the humans reach before they manage to aim their weapons at Kal-El again and then she running and running and _running_.

She holds Kal-El close as he continues to cry, keeps running until she is at the end of the outer edge of the settlement, where relatively few humans live.

It is only when she reaches the point where she can no longer see any houses in the distance that Kara-El stops running.

“We are okay, we are okay. You are safe, you are not hurt. We are okay, we are okay.”

Kara-El realizes that she is babbling, that she is rubbing Kal-El’s back with too jerky movements as he continues to wail. She forces herself to make her rubbing more soothing and forces the panic from her voice. While she cannot control her scent, she can control that.

“It is all right, Kal-El. Everything is all right.”

Kal-El keeps crying, but it is no longer the wailing from before. Good. That is good.

“You are safe, Kal-El.”

Kal-El eventually stops crying and falls asleep, his outburst having exhausted him. Kara-El remains awake. She keeps standing in the same spot.

“You are safe.”

It is only when it starts becoming too cold for Kal-El that she moves. She breaks into a small building that holds no humans, moves the tools out of the way, before she sits down and takes out a blanket from their supply bag. After bundling up Kal-El, who awakens briefly but soon falls asleep again, Kara-El resumes rubbing his back. She remains wide awake.

That was too close. Not simply because Kal-El’s life was in danger, but because no human has ever come this close to taking Kal-El away from her. She cannot afford to let this happen again.

They need to leave.

Kara-El has avoided leaving out of fear. She has no idea what exists beyond this human settlement. This place, for all that it is alien, has also become familiar. She knows how to survive here.

Except this was too close. She almost _lost Kal-El_.

They need to leave. Need to find a place without those dangerous humans.

As dawning approaches, Kara-El feels her resolve harden.

They will leave. They will find a place without those dangerous humans.

She will keep Kal-El safe no matter what.

And she will remember the human who tricked her. Hank of the House of Henshaw. The one who caused her to almost lose Kal-El.

Kara-El vows that she will never allow herself to be deceived by this human ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My muse has decided to return, at least for one chapter. And look, Hank shows up! And screws up. Well, his people screw up. This didn't go the way he'd planned. At all.

**Author's Note:**

> My [tumblr](https://loekas.tumblr.com/)


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